I give up – I refuse to do another New Year’s resolution! I don’t have any for 2022, and I don’t plan on ever doing one again. It’s February, and I’ve just finished my first draft of my personal goals for the year. None of the goals resembles a resolution. You might be thinking – what gives? Well, to offer a phrase that’s been overused since March of 2020, I’m following science.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had New Year’s resolutions many times in the past. I like the start of a new year 1 it gives me the opportunity for a fresh start or clean slate. I usually start the new year strong, with determination that I’d follow my resolution for the entire year. I rarely do. Turns out, I am not the only one.
I was a member at the Downtown Houston YMCA for a few years. I enjoyed that facility. It had all the equipment I needed, and was easy to access. I joined mid-year once. I found the gym not only accessible, but I could always use the equipment I wanted to. It was great! Unfortunately, this only lasted for a few months. The first time I went to the YMCA after New Year, I was bummed out. Not only did I have a hard time finding a parking place, but I couldn’t use my preferred equipment. There were so many people there!
For a while, I grumbled about it and even considered quitting. Being a procrastinator, I never got around to cancelling my membership. After about six weeks, I noticed I could easily find a parking spot and equipment. A lot of people started off the new year joining the YMCA, but gave up on their resolution after a while.
This year, I decided to do something different. As I’ve stated in previous posts, I use the Full Focus Planner (FFP) by Michael Hyatt as my daily planner. The FFP does an excellent job of integrating annual goals, calendar, task lists, and project management. I’ve been using the FFP since its inception.
This year, I decided to read Michael Hyatt’s book “Your Best Year Ever” (YBYE) before I wrote up any goals. This book is one of the best self-development books I’ve seen in many years. Not only is it inspiring and great for helping write up your goals, but it is full of references to studies and research done in the field.
I started drafting my goals while reading the book. Once I finished the book, I reviewed the draft goals to ensure they fit the formula for success. I’ve now settled on these ten goals for the year, and have started working them in earnest.
What have I learned from taking a different path to annual goals:
- I need to devote more time at the end of the year to review my progress and plan my next year’s goals. Michael Hyatt states, “when we obsess on what’s wrong, we miss what’s right.” (YBYE, page 59). My favorite leadership author Dr. John C. Maxwell used to say that the old phrase “experience is the best teacher” was inaccurate. He says “evaluated experience is the best teacher.” I plan to follow the After-Action Review process at year-end. This process, developed and utilized by the U. S. Army, includes four simple steps:
- State what you wanted to happen.
- Acknowledge what really happened.
- Learn from the experience.
- Adjust your behavior.
- As part of my annual review process, I plan to review the YBYE book while looking both back (at the current year’s goals) and forward (to the upcoming year’s goals). This book is not only full of opinions backed by solid research on achievement and success, but it gives you very clear guidance on how to write goals that will maximize potential success.
- I will be judicious about sharing my goals only with people who either have a vested interest in me achieving them, or with people who can hold me accountable. One of the studies mentioned in YBYE indicated that sharing your goals actually affects your brain the same way as achieving the goal.
I’d like to hear what you think:
- Do you regularly use New Year’s resolutions to change behavior or achieve goals? What’s been your track record of success?
- What is your process to develop, monitor, track, and celebrate success?
